Tyrese Haliburton is dealing with a mild strain of his left hamstring, and the Indiana Pacers now list their star point guard as week-to-week. Head coach Rick Carlisle said Wednesday that a return within the next two weeks is not realistic.

Four games was all Haliburton got before his comeback hit a snag. The 26-year-old had spent 16 months working his way back from the Achilles tear he sustained during Game 7 of the 2025 Finals, and he looked very much like himself during the opening week of the season.

Carlisle delivered the update before Wednesday’s home game against Philadelphia. “I don’t think it is realistic that he’d play before that,” the coach said of the two-week mark, according to ESPN. Earlier that day he told local radio station 107.5 The Fan that Indiana had flown in a hamstring specialist the club has worked with before to sit down with the training staff, the front office and Haliburton himself.

A strong start cut short

Through those four outings Haliburton put up 21.8 points per game to go with 9.5 assists and 4.5 boards in roughly 33 minutes a night, while hitting 52 percent from the field. The workload included a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday, and he admitted to feeling “a little beat up” after the Monday game in Milwaukee. His name showed up on the injury report Wednesday.

Carlisle tried to frame the diagnosis with some perspective. “It’s not good news, but it could be worse,” he said, as relayed by CBS Sports citing the Indianapolis Star.

The left hamstring has given Haliburton trouble in the past. In January 2024 he sat out 10 of 11 games with a strain in the same leg, came back for the remainder of that season, then tweaked it again in the playoffs and was unavailable as Indiana dropped the final two games of its 2024 East finals series with Boston.

Injuries stacking up in Indiana

Haliburton is far from the only name on the Pacers’ report. Ivica Zubac was ruled out against the 76ers with a left ankle sprain. T.J. McConnell, still waiting on his season debut, is nursing a strained right hamstring of his own and should need about one more week. Ben Sheppard tore the meniscus in his left knee and is expected to be out for months, and Johnny Furphy has undergone surgery on his right ACL. Andrew Nembhard was listed as questionable with neck soreness before suiting up.

Without their floor general, the Pacers fell 114-109 to Philadelphia on Wednesday night despite winning the third quarter 36-13, dropping to 2-3. Pascal Siakam scored 26 points, his fifth straight game with at least 20, and he figures to carry even more of the offense while Haliburton is out. Indiana visits Miami on Friday before home dates with Brooklyn and Atlanta.

Part of a rough opening stretch across the league

The timing stings for a franchise that won only 19 games last season, the lowest total in its history, while Haliburton watched from the sideline. He also joins a growing list of stars sidelined early in the campaign, a group that already includes Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams, Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards. Keep up with our Indiana Pacers coverage and the latest Tyrese Haliburton news as the two-week checkpoint approaches.